SERB HOUSES STILL
BURNING IN KOSOVO - RECENT CASES IN UROSEVAC AND OBILIC

SERB HOUSES STILL BURNING IN
KOSOVO FOUR YEARS LATER
Thousands of Serb homes were deliberately set on fire
by Kosovo Albanians after the war in order to prevent return of Serb
refugees
(photo archive: Serb house in Prizren burining after the war, a German
KFOR tank passing by)
see link: Thousands of arson
attacks in NATO presence

OBILIC - The house of the three members of the Pecelj family was set on
fire in Svetog Save Street in the town of Obilic in Kosovo at
approximately 07,35 on Saturday morning. The Pecelj family fled from
Obilic on June 2, the day before the murder of the Stolic family in Cerska
Street, Serb sources in Obilic confirmed.

There were 11 Serb families living in Svetog Save Street prior to 1999;
with the departure of the Pecelj family two days ago, there are no more
Serb houses or families remaining.

Until 1999, 12
000 Serbs lived in the municipality of Obilic. Out of 5000 residents of
Obilic, only 400 Serbs remained, and another 3000 in the surrounding
villages.

KIM Radio reports that several Serb-owned apartments and houses in
Urosevac were set on fire last night after the Habitat directorate for
housing and property issues served notices of eviction and UNMIK police
ordered Kosovo Albanian families to vacate the properties, which are owned
by Serbs.

A Serb woman whose apartment was set on fire after the Habitat
intervention said she passed by her apartment today and saw that it had
been completely destroyed in the fire. A source who wishes to remain
anonymous for reasons of personal safety claims that the house of her
uncle in the street formerly called Vuka Karadzica and several other Serb
apartments were also set on fire.

The Kosovo Police Service in Urosevac did not wish to make a statement
regarding the incident. KIM Radio later learned that the notices of
eviction were delivered to Albanian families in Serb homes in Urosevac by
the regional office of Habitat in Gnjilane. UNMIK representatives were
responsible for evicting the Albanian families illegally occupying
Serb-owned propertyTOP

LIPLJAN - Three Albanian young man attacked a Serb woman, Zivka Delic, on
Sunday afternoon in the village of Rabovce, municipality of Lipljan. Serb
sources confirmed that Zivka Delic was going to a nearby store when she
was intercepted by three Albanian young men who began to beat her.

Delic sustained light injuries and local Serb residents ran to assist her.
The incident was reported to the Kosovo Police Service, which refused to
press charges on grounds that the perpetrators were minors. This is the
third time the Albanian young men hasave attacked Zivka Delic.

Obilic - Despite offering a 50,000 dollar award, a special team of
international policemen in Kosovo still has no information on the possible
murderer of the three members of the Stolic family in Obilic some three
weeks ago. The investigation is still in progress. The Stolices were
brutally murdered in their houses, which their attackers then set on fire
in an attempt to cover up traces of the crime. The flames from the house
alerted firefighters, who in putting out the fire destroyed what little
evidence remained after the fire.

In the late morning Obilic is full of Albanian young people. The Serbs
live in the places where there is no one in the streets. That's the first
sign of recognition. The yard of the murdered Stolices is marked off with
yellow tape and a no trespassing sign. In the neighboring Serb yard with
its visibly looted house, an Albanian man is grazing his cow and breaking
off high branches of ripe cherries. The policeman-foreigner who finds
himself at the scene does not react. The remaining Serbs in Obilic say
that these are everyday spectacles in abandoned Serb houses. Although no
progress has yet been made, the police is not giving up on the
investigation. A special team of international policemen headed by a man
personally selected by UNMIK chief Michael Steiner has questioned dozens
of families so far in the hope of learning more about the murderers and
the motives behind the murders.

UNMIK police are suspecting two possible scenarios where attackers were
motivated to murder the three Stolices. In both cases, the house and
property are factors. The first possible motive is that the Stolices
allegedly resisted pressures to sell their house and property, one of the
most attractive in Obilic. The Stolic property is located next to the main
road in the small town, some nine kilometers from Pristina. The second
motive in the Stolic murder, according to UNMIK police, was their plan to
sell the house after all, a plan to which Serbs nearby were strongly
opposed.

At UNMIK police headquarters they believe that the Serb neighbors kept
their windows open all night because of the heat and that it is impossible
that they did not hear what was going on in their neighbors house.
"Unfortunately, we have to lock everything at dust. We close and lock both
windows and doors out of fear that the Albanians will throw in a hand
grenade or enter our houses. Those who live in greatest fear of attacks
have installed metal bars on their windows," the remaining Serbs in Obilic
told "Beta", claiming that it is pointless to speculate who could have
killed their neighbors. "Who could have possibly killed them except the
Albanians?" is the unanimous consensus among the Serbs in Cerska Street.

The remaining Serb men in Obilic are reluctant to give their given and
family names. "We cannot introduce ourselves. If you insist, write that we
are last remaining wretches, abandoned by our country, forgotten by the
international authorities and targeted by the Albanians. We are like game
to be hunted. We are not even safe in our houses and yards and if we dare
to go out into the street, there is no guarantee we will return alive.
This is our life and the life of our children in Obilic." One of the
remaining Serbs in Obilic says that the entire situation says he is on the
edge of a nervous breakdown and that it is pathetic that the Belgrade
authorities remembered them only after the Stolices were murdered. "They
came two days after, offering more help to induce us to stay. As if
assistance can make up for the fact that we are absolutely unsafe here.
KFOR and UNMIK claim they have stepped up their patrols in the part of
Obilic inhabited by Serbs. Why don't you stay tonight and see for yourself
if they are here or not? As soon as the light begins to fade the Albanians
make our lives impossible. They honk their horns when they pass by us;
they motion with their fingers that they will slit our throats; they call
us nasty names. Every day is the same. It's a wonder that we have not lost
our minds."

Immediately after the murder of the Stolices the remaining Serbs in Obilic
had announced that they were collectively leaving; however, they decided
to give another opportunity to international security forces in Kosovo to
try to protect them. "We will wait until the fall or next spring at the
latest. We have nowhere to go except to the collective centers." Prior to
1999 12,000 Serbs lived in the municipality of Obilic, some 5,000 of them
in the town itself. Now there are 400 in town and about 3,000 in the
surrounding villages of Plemetina, Babin Most, Vodica and Janjina Voda.

Prizren - Unknown attackers opened automatic gun fire near Suva Reka on a
passanger combi-van which transported passangers from Belgrade to Prizren.
In this attack one passanger was lightly wounded, said the speaker of the
regional UNMIK police Alexander Myron. He did not mention other details of
the attack.

Between Belgrade and Prizren do not regularly run buses although
inofficial information says that there are at least five request to the
ministry in charge for opening a bus line. The only connection with
Belgrade are ten combi-vans from Dragas. These vehicles, everyday, but
only during the daylight run from Dragas to Belgrade and back.TOP

ELUSIVE
PEACE IN MACEDONIAPolice investigate the site of a bomb blast in Macedonia's capital
Skopje, Sunday, June 22, 2003. Two bombs planted in trash containers
exploded Sunday evening in two different locations in Skopje's central
area. One person was lightly injured, police said. (AP Photo/Boris
Grdanoski)

One person suffered light injuries from the explosion which took place
Sunday evening around 19:20 hrs in front of " Makedonski telekomunikacii"
(Macedonian Telecom) building in Skopje center. Almost simultaniously,
another explosion blasted a garbage container in front of "Mavrovka" mall.
Both explosion damaged the nearby windows belonging to shops
and apartments.

Ministry of Interior started an investigation and secured the area.

The bomb near "Mavrovka" mall was put in a garbage container on "Krste
Misirkov" street. The explosion completelly disfigured it, propelling its
lid to a nearby "Fontana" cafe. At the time of the explosion there were no
cars nor pedestrians nearby. No casualties reported.

The bomb near the Macedonian Telecom was put in the open area near "Orce
Nikolov" street. It shattered the windows of the nearby apartment blocks,
and "Jadran" Hotel. The blast damaged a parked car and injured one person,
who is not hospitalized.

Following the incident, the Police blocked the traffic in the area for a
while.

GREATER ALBANIA BEHIND STRUGGLE
FOR "HUMAN RIGHTS"
Opening Home Page of the Albanian-American Civic League
founded by founded by former U.S. Congressman Joseph DioGuardi
Prominent place on the opening page is given to a map of Greater Albania
including portions of Serbia-Montenegro, Macedionia and Greece

According to the Serbian weekly Nedeljni Telegraf ("Sunday Telegraph"),
last week US Albanian lobbyists and American congressmen held a meeting
where they discussed the redrawing of the Balkan borders.

Reportedly the meeting was lead by the former US Congressman Joseph
DioGuardi, who is the president of the Albanian American Civic League, a
lobby group advocating for a Greater Albania. The US congressmen Tom
Lantos, Benjamin Gillman and Joseph Biden were present at this meeting.

Nedeljni Telegraf writes that the topics of discussion included the
formation of a federation of Albanian Territories on the Balkans, which
would consist of Albania, Kosovo, parts of Macedonia and parts of Greece.
Moreover, a specific timelines was agreed upon, where Kosovo would gain
independent status by 2005, Macedonia would be federalized by 2007,
and in the meantime unrest will be instigated in northwest Greece so that
this area, which the Albanians call Chemeria, would separate from Greece
and join the Albanian union. This whole "project" would be finished by
2010.

According to Nedeljni Telegraf, Congressman Biden pledged to use his
influence to bring about a large foreign military presence in Macedonia,
which would guarantee the unimpeded federalization of this Balkan country.
In the meantime, Macedonia would be pressured to further decentralize its
governance by transferring more capacities to municipalities.

BOCHUM -- Monday – An official of the UN mission in Kosovo was sentenced
in Germany today to three and a half years in prison for stealing $4.3
million while serving in Kosovo.

A court in Bochum sentenced 37-year-old Joe Trutschler after an
investigation established that he had embezzled funds intended for the
Kosovo Electricity Company and transferred it to his account in Gibraltar.

A further attempt to forward the funds from Gibraltar to Belize was
thwarted by investigating bodies.

JOZEF
KASA: KOSOVO IS THE CRADLE OF SERBSDeputy Serbian Prime
Minister Jozef Kasa, leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, has
said that Serbia's problem in Kosovo has "valid sensitivity" and is akin
to the Hungarian problem with Transylvania.

NOVI SAD -- Deputy Serbian Prime Minister Jozef Kasa, leader of the
Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, has said that Serbia's problem in Kosovo
has "valid sensitivity" and is akin to the Hungarian problem with
Transylvania.

In an interview for today's edition of Novi Sad's Dnevnik, Kasa said:
"Kosovo is the cradle of Serbs and its loss would be extremely hard to
take. As a Hungarian I understand it because losing Transylvania, which we
almost did over previous decades and are still not immunised against, has
the same meaning as Kosovo does for Serbs".

Vojvodina Hungarians will stay in Serbia always

Turning to the situation among Vojvodina's large Hungarian community, Kasa
insisted that Hungarian people have lived in Vojvodina for centuries and
want to stay.

He condemned extremism of any kind and criticised the recent appearance of
a poster in the northern Serbian town of Subotica, which made note of the
signing of the Trijan agreement that followed the collapse of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and insisted that Hungary had left behind a great
part of its territory, including the province of Vojvodina.

Kasa insisted "Hungarians do not want to secede from Serbia. No! We are
staying right here, in the province of Vojvodina within the state of
Serbia".

He added that he believes Balkan territorial borders will not be changed
again, saying: "There will be no more changes of borders, but if there
ever is then it must be in the same way as European borders have
disappeared".

ERP KIM
Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox
Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace
Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues. The
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